


Prom

by beingonstageismagic



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Prom, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Fluff, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Teen Crush, Teen Molly, Teen Sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 14:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13503696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beingonstageismagic/pseuds/beingonstageismagic
Summary: Teen Sherlolly embark on a masquerade themed prom. Can the ability to hide behind a mask force them to finally be truthful with each other? Will they finally admit what they want to say whilst surrounded by fairy lights and slow dancing songs?





	Prom

Molly Hooper looked at herself up and down in the mirror. She couldn’t deny that the dress her Father had chosen for her was pretty, she pondered over the lace top and whether her Father would approve now it was on her, but she likes the detail and would stand her ground, arguing that he picked it and it was his fault if he didn’t realise there was barely any material underneath it. The dress was a soft yellow colour that had her looking like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, a decision she was sure her father made on purpose, knowing it was her favourite film. The dress was stunning, as was the golden laser cut mask in her hand, but she felt like she was not.

Out of all of her closest friends, she had been the only one to not have been asked to their masquerade themed prom. Mary was obviously going with John, Meena with her boyfriend Billy, Sally had been asked by Philip and Greg was taking his on again girlfriend Jenny. Even Janine, who had only just broken up with her boyfriend last week, had been asked by Ethan Jones.

Molly was the only one who wouldn’t have a date. And she felt humiliated.

“Molls, you look gorgeous!”

Mary entered the room in her red satin dress that hugged her figure and had a slit up the leg. It matched her red lipstick perfectly and her dark eyes and pixie cut hair made her look like a dangerous vixen.

“Really?”

Molly hated the disbelief in her voice.

“Yes!” Mary sighed and stepped over to her friend effortlessly in her ridiculously high heels. That was one thing Molly had forgone and therefore felt so much smaller in her sensible two inch heels compared to Mary’s five.

Mary ran her fingers trough Molly’s hair, spreading out the curls she’d spent an hour doing, she never would have agreed if she knew how much hair Molly really had.

“And your make up looks amazing.”

“Mary, you did it.”

“I know. That’s why it looks amazing.”

“I just-“

“Molly! I don’t want to hear it. Just for tonight, forget all these inhibitions you have about yourself! Own that beautiful dress, flick your curled hair, appreciate your flawless make up and put on your gorgeous mask.”

As she said this, Mary took the said mask from her hand and tied it onto Molly’s face before putting her red lace one on her own face. She smiled and Molly just nodded. Mary linked her arm through her friends and they walked out the room and down the stairs, climbing into the car that awaited them outside.

“You’ve got this.” Was whispered in Molly’s ear as they reached their destination.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Molly had lost sight of Mary after they’d entered the great hall. John had swept her away as soon as he’d seen her. His red mask had hidden who he was but the way his tie and suit lapels matched Mary’s dress left no doubt in Molly’s mind. Only Mary would be able to convince John to wear matching outfits.

She now stood by the drinks table, a lemonade in her hand, watching the endless amounts of couples dancing on the floor. She spied Meena in her sapphire straight gown laughing with Billy in his blue suit. John and Mary were whispering in each other’s ears in the corner. Phillip was trying to get Sally to dance, but if the arms crossed over her navy dress told Molly anything, it was that he was being told no. Even Greg and Jenny were attempting to dance, even if neither of them had any rhythm.

Molly smoothed her hand over her dress and adjusted her hair. A deep and steeling breath was enough to tell her she would get through this. She spied a glance at the clock on the wall and sipped her lemonade. She could do this.

She didn’t notice the figure watching her from across the room.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Sherlock didn’t understand why he had to come to this godforsaken dance, but John had insisted and Sherlock, as much as he hated to admit it, didn’t like upsetting his friend.

He resisted the urge to turn up his collar when he realised that he was not in his signature belstaff, but rather an expensive black suit with a navy shirt and mask that brought out the blue in his eyes, or at least that’s what his mother had said.

He shifted a stray curl from his forehead as he watched the girl across the room from him, sipping quietly at her lemonade. Not even Sherlock could deny how amazing she looked, it certainly was a big difference to her oversized jumpers and ponytails. Not that he didn’t think she was pretty when she wore her normal clothes, he did. Molly Hooper was beautiful to him, she always had been, but right now, she was breathtaking.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he considered her. He’d been battling with this sentiment towards her for some time, he’d always been careful when it came to sentiment, especially after years of his brother and his boring mantra. But something about this small girl has captured his attention.

He assumed it was her brain, she was so much smarter than anybody else their age. Mary was smart too, but a different kind of smart to Molly. Mary was people smart, something that helped Sherlock get through everyday life - she, like John, told him what was ‘not good’. But Molly was more than just book smart. She was intelligent beyond the knowledge required for their exams. And she shared his love for science, as well as his morbid sense of humour. Yes, he’d been mean to her in the past, at some points he was so awful he thought he’d lose her friendship forever. But she was always there to forgive him. Her brain was impressive to him, but her heart was what captivated him. She had such a capacity to love, it astonished him. No matter who or how badly someone wronged her, she would always forgive. He had seen it many a time. And it amazed him every time.

Sherlock took a deep breath and headed toward her. If he couldn’t admit anything to her on his own, maybe he could behind a mask.

As stupid as that sounded he told himself it was worth the risk, she was worth the risk.

“Quite the occasion, isn’t it?”

Her giant chocolate eyes had sparkled up at him in surprise.

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Not my thing.”

“Oh really?”

He almost raised an eyebrow at her pretending not to know him, but stopped himself. Maybe this was the way to go. Maybe she was also hiding behind the mask. Maybe this little game could help them.

“Yeah, I find them drab mostly. Avoidable. Boring. Definitely not my thing.”

“Well, could you try it?”

“I guess I could dip my toe in, care to dance-“ he paused, giving her the opportunity to be truthful or not. Letting the ball be played from her corner.

“M- Margaret. Margaret Bulkley. But my friends call me Margot.”

He smiled and tried to hide the laugh that threatened at the name choice. It was such a Molly name to choose.

“Margot.”

He took her hand and walked her to the dance floor before pulling her close to him as a slow song came on.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Molly hid her face against his chest. Why had she just lied to him? What silly schoolgirl fantasy told her that lying to the boy you like about who you are will make him notice you more? She couldn’t believe her own stupidness.

On the other hand, she couldn’t believe Sherlock hadn’t questioned it, looked at her funny or told her to stop being stupid. He’d taken her word as gospel and never batted an eyelid. Surely her mask and dress didn’t disguise her that well? Her hair may have been curled but she was still her.

She felt his hand caress her back as he held her close and shook herself internally. She should just take this as a miracle and not question it. She wasn’t alone at prom, and better yet, it was Sherlock she was dancing with. It was Sherlock who was swaying rhythmically with her, his face turned into her hair and his arm holding her close to him as his hand held hers against his firm chest.

The song faded and Sherlock led her away from the dance floor towards the doors leading to the courtyard garden. No one else was out there, everyone was too busy soaking up the atmosphere within the hall.

The garden was beautiful. A giant willow tree stood in the centre with fairy lights intertwined in its branches, candelabras were dotted around and the wooden frames surrounding the border were wrapped in fairy lights too. The time of year meant the flowers were nicely in bloom but not enough to make Molly cry and sniffle from the pollen count and the fountain to the left of the tree had been lit with different coloured lights.

Sherlock never dropped Molly’s hand as he took her to the blanket she didn’t notice was placed beneath the willow tree. They both sat easily as they got there, a sight which settled Sherlock as he was worried she wouldn’t be able to do much in her dress. They sat facing away from the school, almost, but not quite, leaning against each other. They looked out over the neighbouring lake which was glittering and dancing with the lights emanating from the prom.

“This is beautiful, Sherlock.”

“It really is.”

Molly was too busy staring at the lake to realise Sherlock was actually looking at her.

“Still not your thing?” She smiled at him.

“Well, maybe I’ve been persuaded otherwise.” He’d beamed back at her.

“Thank you for the dance. I really needed it.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“I was afraid I’d be stuck alone by the refreshments all night.” She glanced at the floor as he looked at her inquisitively, “Nobody asked me to the dance. Out of all my friends I was the only one to not be asked, and obviously I didn’t want to interrupt their dates so I just got on with it.”

Sherlock felt the confusion whip across his features.

“Molly, I-“

“What?”

Her head had snapped round to him and she’d turned crimson. He realised what he’d said. He’d said her real name, not Margot.

“Come now, Molly. You knew I knew it was you. Your dress and mask are quite distracting but they don’t hide the beauty underneath it all.”

She stayed silent. Her face grew warmer.

“And really? Margaret Bulkley? Surely you’d know that I would recognise that name. The first female surgeon in Britain who spent her entire career dressing as a man. Really, Molly, I’m sure it was me who you discussed that with when you first stumbled across the article, I-“

“Sherlock?” Her voice was barely a whisper, a fragile piece of glass.

“Yes?”

“Did you- did you just call me beautiful?” It cracked.

Sherlock’s face paled. He’d let the cat out of the bag. He’d let his observations slip. He’d let his guard down and here he was. Facing this situation straight on, like a deer in headlights. He took a deep breath and reached out towards her, for a moment he thought she’d pull away, but she didn’t. He reached around the back of her head and pulled the silk ribbon loose, taking her mask from her face with his other hand before doing the same to himself. He placed the masks down and looked back up to find her gazing at him expectantly and yet confused, with her sparkling eyes. He reached his hand back to her face and cupped her cheek in an almost awkward manner. But nothing was ever awkward between the two of them.

“I did, Molly. Because you are. You are breathtaking. Everyday” she scoffed. “Every. Day.” He punctuated his statement, staring into her eyes with those cerulean eyes of his. “And I definitely would have told you before now if I realised how much you don’t believe it.”

“Sherlock-“ her eyes were brimming with tears.

“No wait, Molly.” He dried her runaway tears, “You have to let me apologise.”

“For what?”

He took a deep breath. This was it. What he’d been denying to John for two months now was about to come out.

“I’m the reason you don’t have a date.”

“What? No, Sherlock, don’t be silly-“

“No, Molls. Really. I, well I, I may have sabotaged the people who wanted to ask you.” She fell silent once again. “I put off people like Tom Harrow, Ben Kent and George Scott.” She looked stunned. “Yes Molls, all these people and more wanted to come to prom with you. And I told them you’d already been asked.”

“But, why, Sherlock?”

“Because- because I thought I’d already asked you.”

“What?” She paled.

“I thought I’d told you what I thought and how I wanted the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen to accompany me to prom, and I thought you’d said yes. It just turned out that I had neglected to say any of it out loud, and you were simply telling me you’d partner with me in chem.”

He looked away from her, his high cheek bones were tinted red and his blue eyes were cast down at the blanket.

“Sherlock.”

Nothing.

“Sherlock, look at me.”

He did.

“Ask me.”

“What?”

“Aloud. Ask me.”

He turned his whole body to face her before standing up and extending a hand to her. She took it and they stood opposite each other, chests barely centimetres apart.

“Molly Hooper.”

“Yes?”

“I think you are beautiful. Inside and out. You’re one of the most amazing people in my life and I can’t imagine never having met you, Molly. You are truly the person who matters most. So, please, give me the honour of accompanying me to prom?”

Her smile grew until it lit up her entire face, the fairy lights glinted in her eyes.

“Yes, Sherlock Holmes. A thousand times, yes.”

They shared a grin for a moment before Molly jumped up into his arms. Her feet floated above the ground as her arms wrapped around his neck, his broad arms encircled her slim waist almost two times over and they stayed like that for a while. Just holding each other. Just being together. When he finally lowered her back down to the floor, their faces were so close that their noses were almost touching.

“Sherlock.”

“Molly.”

Their whispered words danced on the breeze swinging the tree branches around them. Sherlock lowered his face further and placed his lips over Molly’s, before one again bundling her back into his arms.

When they pulled apart, neither could deny that everything about that moment just felt right.

“I would just love to dance with you again, Molly Hooper, shall we?” He offered his arm to her.

She smiled before taking his hand in hers and placing a kiss on his cheek.

“We shall.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments!! Xx 
> 
> Molly’s Dress: https://www.customdressy.com/yellow-prom-dresses-charming-evening-dress-yellow-prom-gowns-lace-prom-dresses-2016-new-prom-gowns-yellow-evening-gown-party-dresses.html
> 
> Molly’s Mask: https://m.partycity.ca/products/filigree+gold+mask


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